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Help:A Guide to Klingon/sentences
Simple Sentences The simplest of sentences in Klingon consist of a single verb: * SIS - It's raining. * qIp - He hit him. Also a sentence can consist of a verb with prefixes and suffixes: * yIqIp'eghQo' - Don't hit yourself. Sentence word order In a Klingon sentence the word order is the opposite of English. The subject comes after the verb and the object before it: * puq qIp loD - The man is hitting the child. The verb prefix must agree with the subject and object. In the above example, no verb prefix was used, with implied subject he and implied object him or her. If the subject is a noun use prefixes such as mu- or nu- which have subject he, she or it: * muqIp puq - The child is hitting me. * nuqIp puq - The child is hitting us. If the object is a noun, use prefixes such as vI- or DI-: * puq vIqIp - I am hitting the child(ren). Indirect Objects An indirect object is indicated using the noun suffix -vaD. It precedes the object: * jIHvad nob - He gave it to me. * jIHvad Duj nob - He gave the ship to me. Relative Clauses A relative clause modifies a noun, called the head noun. Relative clauses are not sentences in their own right, but form part of a sentence with a main clause. In English, relative clauses start with a relative pronoun such as that, what, where, which, who, whom or whose. Most of these pronouns also have other meanings in English. The Klingon equivalent of the relative pronoun is the syntactic marker -bogh: * Heghpu'bogh loD - the man who died * loD lulbogh - the man whom she fights * qach vIparHa'bogh - the house which I like If both subject and object are nouns, then the noun that is modified, the head noun, is indicated by -'e': * loD lulbogh be''e' - the woman who fights the man A relative clause can also be used to translate constructions such as a man in a coat. This can be rendered: * wep tuQbogh loD'e' - a man who is wearing a coat The relative clause together with the head noun, collectively act as a noun within a sentence. Here a relative clause is the object: * Heghpu'bogh loD jImuS - I hate the man who died. And here it is the subject: * mumuS Heghpu'bogh loD - The man who died hated me. Sentences as Objects A sentence such as They see us running is translated using the Klingon pronoun 'e'. This pronoun is often translated as that, and refers to a clause within a sentence. The sentence can be written They see that we run. Here the clause we run is the object of they see. The sentence consists of two clauses, the main clause (they see) and the object clause (we run), connected by that. The pronoun, 'e', requires a verb prefix for a third-person singular object (it). 'e' appears in the object position for they see, and the object clause precedes the main clause: * maqet 'e' lulegh - They see us run. * qet loD 'e' lulegh - They see the officer running. * loD qIp 'e' jIHar - I believe he is hitting the man. The verb of the main clause, that is the second verb in the sentence, is usually a verb of thinking (such as Har, Sov or yaj) or one of observation (such as legh or Qoy). This verb cannot take an aspect suffix; it is always neutral with regard to time. If an aspect suffix is required it is attached to the first verb: * maqetpu' 'e' lulegh - They saw us run. The pronoun net is similar to 'e'. It is used when the main clause has no prefix, but the subject is one or someone: * maqet net Sov - One knows that we run. or It is known that we run. If the main verb is neH (want) then neither 'e' or net are used. As with 'e' or net, the prefix on this verb must indicate a third-person singular object, and no aspect suffix is allowed: * DaHoH vIneH - I want you to kill him. * jIqetpu' vIneH - I wanted to run. If an adverb is required, it applies to the main clause, so appears between the object clause and 'e': * maqet tugh 'e' lulegh - Soon, they will see us run.